Summary I would say, yes, it's a step in the right direction. Empires 2.21 has fixed a lot of the serious issues with 2.2, however, there are still a few showstoppers. I think if the devs can address the performance issues in the next release, Empires will be in good shape. Vehicles Vehicles finally handle well on the OB engine. Good job There are a few changes that most veteran players will notice right off the bat, and may not like. Vehicle hull health seems to have been cut in half. Also, when trying to rush an APC past two LVL1 ML turrets, the APC died much faster than it used to back in 2.12. I think that reflective armor isn't as powerful as it used to be since my APC died so quickly. I didn't have a chance to do much with the vehicles, but that's what I gathered from my brief playing session yesterday. Infantry Weapons Infantry weapons have vastly improved since 2.2, and are much closer than their 2.12 counterparts then ever before. Weapon ROF has been increased, and the weapons seem to be a little more lethal. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the BE carbide, but I'll get used to it. Performance There are some serious performance issues with 2.21. Voice chat lags so bad that people are cutting in and out when they are talking. The server hardware seems as if it's not able to keep up with 2.21. I've noticed server update ticks dropping below 20 on a server that should never fall below 30. What doesn't make sense is that the server has plenty of CPU power available.
**SLAP!** Vehicle hull health is the same. APCs have had 80 hull health since 2.12. (Most vehicles have 150.) I'm guessing that when you thought you put Reflective on your APC, it was actually still Plain. Either that or they were level 2 BE turrets, but I doubt you'd make that kind of mistake, or that they'd make that much of a difference. Also, here's something you missed: Vehicles have a greater tendency to stall when taking damage (or the stall is more noticeable with the new vehicles). It's occurred since 2.2, but might as well be lumped in with the 2.21 stuff.
That makes sense. Re the stalling, that adds realism More on Infantry Weapons Infantry weapons seem to send enemies flying backwards as if they were hit with compressed air. It makes aiming a little more complex. I don't think that would happen in reality though. If someone was using a minigun in RL, I think it would tear the person it was pointed at into little pieces, not send them flying backwards. If I remember correctly, the MythBusters investigated this, and even a shotgun failed to send it's target "flying".
the priciple of actio and reactio. The person that was shot cant get pushed further then the shooting person got pushed back by firing his weapon. Imagine it this way: Code: \ O \ O / <-----| \p-- -+-----> v_1 | | v_2 _____/_\________________/_\______________________ norm of vector v_1 and v_2 are equal: |v_1| = |v_2| Edit: Now I totaly forgot to write something on topic, my bad: I noticed the increased Stall on Damage too, but I haven't really tested it yet. Edit 2: Due to various critisicm in our irc channel think of the persons as solid objects.
Most of the recoil is from the explosion that propels the round, so the force on the target would be significantly less.
That newtonian physics stuff only works with rigid bodies. 'Recoilless rifles' are basically light cannons designed to direct most of their recoil into the air behind, rather than onto whatever they're mounted. They probably don't have as much punch as an equivalent tank-mounted cannons, but infantry can use them, either over the shoulder or with a fairly light tripod, and they would surely push a person off his feet. :p Not that small arms put so much focus on reducing recoil. A small bullet from a handgun, given enough force to send a man flying, would just rip through him and come out the other side anyway. If it's a small enough bullet, he might not even feel the impulse... just the pain of his kidney exploding.
why, guys, WHY BRING PHYSICS INTO A DISCUSSION WHEN ALL I WANT IS TO PLAY EMPIRES AND ESCAPE THAT CRAP FROM SCHOOL????????????
I think this discussion is really a step in the right direction. Things like this DEVs can look into and talk about. Lets start doing more testing in these problems areas and maybe come up with alternative solutions that achieve the same effect. For bullet knock back: Maybe we could setup the system so that instead of the body actually moving only the player camera gets hit destroying any chance of accuracy. I think that would be more realistic. I also think the 2.21 weapons are a step in the right direciton. They aren't quite there yet but they are DAMN close.
I think the bullet knock back needs to be toned way down. If you add what you suggested, it'll create a lot of BS kills.
yes, its a step in the right direction. infantry weapons are fine now (although sniper rifle needs to be removed asap. the current one is useless anyway.) railguns got nerfed too much. but before devs add new stuff, they should fix the current bugs (http://forums.empiresmod.com/showthread.php?t=7460&page=9).
Last time on slaughtered, they ate my 6 plates of absorbant pretty quickly (which was mostly the fault of constantly getting stalled though). Also, it seems to be like HE against infantry now, just with a little less splash.
The ballistics pushback (airgun effect) is going to be set by your position (standing, crouching, prone) in future versions. :v I think it'll be reduced overall though.
Any sort of significant knockback or view jolt as a result of getting hit is annoying, jerk the view slightly when you get hit, and flash it red, but don't send the player flying or make him spazz out.
That should be handy. I've yet to manage melee-killing anyone who's prone and has health upgrade because after the second hit they're suddenly 20 feet away from me. :p (On the other hand, smacking people up an incline so that they get some nice air before dying of falling damage has always worked.) Wait.... This change will extend to the melee attack, right?
push back can be achieved by having a big surface that gets hit, thus tipping you over, and as far as i know all characters (not just riflemen) wear body armor not saying its ridiculously over "powered" at this moment
Don't know if this is related to push back or the sticking issue fix. Seems if you are prone behind a turret, and a team member steps on you, you "squirt" to either the left or right side of your turret, usually right in line to fire.
My APC uses quantum physics. I have a .14159265% chance of magically appearing next to your CV full of riflemen with sticky nades.
